Suspended ceiling



y 1959 G. J. BYSSING 2,895,180

SUSPENDED CEILING Filed Oct. 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GEORGE J. BYSS/IVG,

IN VEN TOR.

HUE'BIVE'R, BEEHLER,

WORREL 8 HERZ/G,

\ A TTORNEVS.

July 21, 1959 a. J. BYSSING SUSPENDED CEILING Filed Oct. 25, 19 56 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .n uuunnnuuvunnhnnununuu GEORGE J. BYSS/NG, IN V EN TOR.

HUEBNERfl EEHLER, WORREL & HERZIG,

A T TOR/VEVS- United States Patent SUSPENDED CEILING George J. Byssing, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application October 25, 1956, Serial No. 618,261

3 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to ceiling construction, and more particularly to a ceiling adapted to be suspended, as, for example, from the rafters of a building or from the underside of a floor of a building.

Ceilings of the type herein described comprise a plurality of runners disposed in parallel relationship and in a common plane. The runners are suspended as by wires from a ceiling structure of the building. Flat panels are then rested on the runners and these panels span the space between the runners.

It is an object of this invention to provide a suspended ceiling of the above mentioned character in which the panels are interengageable with the runners whereby the runners and the panels are maintained in fixed relationship with each other and the runners and panels become aligned in straight rows upon their installation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a suspended ceiling of the above mentioned character having tie means adapted to extend transversely with respect to the runners and to engage the runners for the purpose of locking the runners in their installed position and preventing them from becoming spread apart.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a means for closing or covering the space between the end edges of two adjacent panels, thus to prevent dust from passing through the same.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved means for securing two runners in end to end relationship.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a suspended ceiling of the above mentioned character which is simple and rugged in construction, is adapted to be installed easily even by unskilled workmen, and can be manufactured at low cost.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear during the course of the following part of this specification, wherein the details of construction and mode of installation of an embodiment of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a ceiling embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an expanded view in perspective of two panels and a tie member for the runners, the tie member being positioned between the panels;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the tie member;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of a runner, with a large portion thereof between the ends being cut away;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the ceiling, taken on a vertical plane extending substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of a runner;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the ceiling, taken on line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an exploded view in perspective of a clip constructed according to this invention and the end portions of two runners arranged in end to end relationship,

the clip being shown as the same appears prior to being secured to the runners, and,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the end portions of the runners and of the clip in its secured position.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail and with the use of reference numerals, a portion of a suspended ceiling embodying my invention is shown in Fig. 1 and designated, generally, by reference numeral 10. It comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending runners, 11 and 12, arranged in parallel spaced apart relationship in a common plane, which for most installations will be horizontal. The runners support panels 13 and 14, which span the space between adjacent runners. Also, the runners are held in fixed relationship by a plurality of tie members 15 which extend transversely between adjacent pairs of runners.

The runners may be molded from plastics material or formed from metals as by extrusion or rolling, or they may be formed from sheet metal as is the embodiment shown in the drawing. Such sheet is of uniform width having side edges 18 and 19. As best shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, the sheet from which the runner 11 is formed is bent back upon itself along its longitudinal medial line 20 into two half portions 21 and 22. These half portions are then bent outwardly away from each other along longitudinally extending lines 23 and 24 to provide web portions 25 and 26 respectively.

The double thickness of sheet material disposed between line 20 (i.e. top edge of runner 11) on the one hand and fold lines 23 and 24 on the other hand is herein referred to as a stern for the runner, the same being designated by numeral 28. This stem is wider than the thickness of the panels 13 and 14 and preferably wider than the thickness of the tie members 15.

Each stern has a plurality of holes 30 formed therein, the same being spaced apart adjacent the top edge of the stem. These holes serve to receive wires 31 by which the runners are suspended as from the undersurface of an upper floor of a building or from the rafters of the roof of the building (not shown).

Referring again to the web portions 25 and 26, these are bent to extend in a common plane which is substantially normal to the plane of stem 28. Proximate the side edges 18 and 19, the web portions 25 and 26 are bent along longitudinally extending lines 33 and 34 to provide marginal portions 35 and 36 which extend upright from the web portions in planes parallel to the stem 28. These marginal portions serve to engage the panels 13 in a way which will be described hereinafter. The width of these marginal portions is preferably less than one-half the thickness of the panels.

The tie members 15 may also be formed from a strip of sheet metal having side edges 38 the strip being bent back upon itself along its longitudinally extending medial line. The strip is of such width that when in its bent form it will be preferably wider than the thickness of a panel. It is cut to a length preferably at least as long as the width of a panel. Proximate each end of the tie member, the same is cut inwardly from its side edges 38 along cuts 39 and 40 which are spaced inwardly from their respective adjacent ends of the tie members by a distance substantially equal to the inside width of the web portions, i.e., the dimension between the mutually facing surfaces of the stem portion 28 and marginal portion 35, thus to define brace portions 41 and 42 which when installed become received between the stem 28 and a marginal portion 35.

The sheet material disposed between the cuts 39 and 40 are bent out along longitudinally extending lines 44 as flanges 45 and 46. These flanges are spaced upwardly from the lower edge 38 of the brace portions 41 and 42 by a distance preferably at least as great as the width of the marginal portions 25 and about one-half the thickness of the panels.

From the above description of the tie members and the runners, it will be seen that the tie members are so dimensioned that when arranged transversely with respect to the runners they engage the runners as removable braces and with the runners define rectangular spaces for reception of the panels 13. The end edges of the tie members abut against the faces of a stern portion 28 and thus maintain the runners against being moved toward each other and cause the stem portion to become disposed in a vertical plane. The inside edges of the portions 41 and 42 by abutment with inside faces of the marginal portions 35, maintain the runners against being spread apart. The tie members are slidable longitudinally with respect to the runners, thus to accommodate panels of any length.

Referring now to the details of construction of the panels 13 and 14, these are flat rectangular pieces which may be formed from any suitable stiff material. These panels may be formed of corrugated material. For most installations panels formed from conventional acoustic material will be employed, they commonly being called acoustic tile. Panel 13 has an under-face 50, side edges or faces 51 and 52 and end edges or faces 53 and 54. The dimension between side faces 51 and 52 determines what lengths of tie members are to be installed, the tie members being about equal in length to the width of the panels.

Proximate each side face 51 and 52, the panel has straight kerfs 56 and 57 formed in the under-face, these kerfs being spaced inwardly from the side faces of the panel respectively by a distance such that the panels will rest on the runners within the web portions thereof, with a marginal portion of a runner being received in a kerf. Also the end edges 53 and 54 have kerfs 58 and 59 formed therein respectively, to mate with the flanges 45-46 on the tie members.

Inasmuch as the above described parts of the ceiling of this invention are cut and formed to be interengaged or interlocked with each part contributing to the bracing and alignment of the other parts it will be seen that upon completion of installation of the ceiling the runners become disposed in accurately parallel relationship to present a neat and straight appearance. The panels are abutted in end to end relationship against a tie member positioned between them. The flanges 45 and 46 of the tie member being extended into respective end kerfs 58 and 59 prevent dust from dropping through the space between adjacent panels, and these flanges also serve to support the panels against becoming bowed downwardly from the weight of the panels. The completed ceiling is not only as easily and simply dis-assembled as it is easily and simply installed in place, but also it is rugged and so constructed that the parts thereof may not become jarred out of alignment.

Referring to Figs. 6-8 of the drawing there is shown a clip 62 for fastening runner sections 11 and 11' in end to end relationship. Each runner section has a slot 63 formed in the end of the stem portion thereof contiguous the web portion of the runners. Another slot 64 is formed in the stem portion, the same being cut to extend vertically and from the web portion and being spaced inwardly from the end edge of the runner section. The clip 62 is formed, as from sheet metal, to a T configuration, having a leg portion 66 and a cross portion 67. The leg portion is bent along the lower edge of the cross portion and also bent along a transverse line 68 to provide a flap 69 which is spaced from the cross portion by a distance substantially equal to the width of the runner stem portion. Also the cross member 67 of the clip is bent along lines 70 and 71 to form flaps 72 and 73 respectively. These last mentioned flaps are spaced apart by a distance equal to twice the distance at which the slots 64 are spaced from the end edge of their respective runner sections. With this construction it will be seen that when runner sections 11 and 11' are arranged in end to end relationship as best appears in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawing, the clip 62 may be fitted into the slots of the sections to fasten the sections together. The leg 66 is inserted into the single slot comprising slot 63 of section 11 and slot 63' of section 11'. The flap 72 is inserted into slot 64 and the flap 73 into slot 64' of section 11. These flaps are then bent inwardly to lie flush against a surface of the stem portion of the runner sections and the leg 66 is bent as appears in Fig. 8 to permit bending of its flap 69 over the top of the stem section where the flap 69 will extend over the upper edge of the cross member 67.

The clip 62 provides a strong and tightly fitting fastening means for securing one runner end section to another for installations requiring great runner lengths.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A ceiling suspended from a supporting structure and comprising: a pair of elongate runners arranged in spaced apart relationship in a common plane, each runner comprising a flat web having side edges, stern means projecting substantially normal to the web along the longitudinally extending medial line of the web, and marginal portions integral with and projecting substantially normal to the web along the side edges of the web respectively; a plurality of rectangular panels each having an underface, two side edges and two end edges, the panels spanning the space between adjacent runners and resting on the webs, the panels having recesses formed therein adjacent said panel side edges respectively and receiving said marginal portions, each panel end edge having a longitudinally extending kerf formed therein, and strip members resting on the webs and extending transversely of the runners and being received in said kerfs and means secured to the stem means for suspending said runners from the supporting structure.

2. A ceiling suspended from a supporting structure and comprising: a plurality of elongate runner sections arranged in end to end relationship in a l1ne, apTiiFa lity of uniformly spaced apart lines of runner sections, each runner section comprising a flat web having side edges, a stem projecting substantially normal to the web along the longitudinal medial line of the web, and marginal portions integral with and projecting upwardly from the side edges respectively of the web, the runner sections being arranged with their webs disposed in a common 2 horizontal plane, means secured to the stems for suspending the runner sections from said supporting structure, a

lurality of rectangular panels spanning the spaces betrvely, anw'stiiigf'on tfi e iwvb bs, the panels having kerfs formed in the underfacethereof 6% I i 5 each runner end portion thereof for accommodating said fastener clips respectively, each clip comprising a leg portion and a cross portion, said leg portion being perpendicular to the cross portion at the center of the cross portion, the ends of the cross of the web, the webs of the runners being disposed in a common horizontal plane, means secured to the stems for suspending the runners from a ceiling of the building, tie members extending transversely between adjacent pairs of runners wherebyrectangnlar spaces are defined between adjacent pairs of runners and adjacent pairs of tie members respectively, each tie member having end portions thereof extending between said marginal portions and stems respectively and resting upon said webs, each tie member having two opposed flanges extending longitudinally thereof and disposed in a horizontal plane from the marginal portion of one runner to the marginal portion of another runner, and rectangular panels disposed in and filling said spaces respectively, each panel having two opposed side edges adjacent said tie members 6 respectively, said panel side edges having longitudinally extending kerfs formed therein, and the flanges of the tie members being disposed in said kerfs respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,139,641 Neumeister Dec. 6, 1938 2,257,001 Davis Sept. 23, 1941 2,286,167 Davis June 9, 1942 2,394,443 Guignon Feb. 5, 1946 2,401,062 Fellom May 28, 1946 2,689,630 Drury Sept. 21, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 98,760 Austria July 15, 1924 

